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Feeling Green

Arti Prashar, Artistic Director
03 March 2014

Ahh its been awhile since I put pen to paper – actually fingers to keyboard. Which is more environmentally friendly? Yes, that’s the theme for today! Environment, being green, recycling, re-using. You are going to get a lot of recycled thoughts – question is can you stomach them?

Honestly I don’t think any of us really know what resources we have or the actual impact of our consumption. It’s all a science and science is variable. But if being green is your belief system then you go ahead – don’t impose it on me.All I know is that we are greedy and will always want more and that the planet is in a moment of transition – evolution if you like. I am very accepting of all this.

Which one of us is prepared to ditch our lap tops, iPads, tablets, smart phones, iPhones, TVs, new technology so that the rich red soil of Africa is not plundered for its minerals to make all these gadgets? How green are you?

Which one of us is prepared to say that the human population is too large and needs to be reduced. How we reduce it I will leave to your imaginations – the possibilities are endless and seemingly frightening.

Low energy bulbs have mercury in them – we will throw them away after use and a mercury mountain mingled with glass will grow that will damage us and future generations to come for a long time to come.

Which one of us will sacrifice holidays abroad and not travel by air to stop air pollution growing? And yet we have a government that sees air travel as the saviour to our economic misfortunes! Confused.com

Surely we need to start re-educating ourselves to want less. But with less comes less choice, and possibly less aspiration. We have been in a mode that has demanded growth from us on every front especially in the Arts: more audience, more touring, more bureaucracy, more shows, bigger shows, festivals, events… more more more. When actually the green agenda’s demand is less less less.

Let’s not become evangelical and dictatorial about green issues as most of us fail at it, have double standards about it.

Let your conscience guide you in your own small way about feeling and being green.